Crackers and water were the first things Ginger saw on her bedside table because Evan made sure they were there every night. She loved that man and felt him stir when she moved.

It was crazy to find out so early she was pregnant. Most of her friends were past their first month or two before they knew. She knew there was a baby in her belly because of how she felt, but it was hard to believe when her body looked the same. She was glad Evan wanted to experience every part of this pregnancy with her, but sometimes wished he could experience the sickness, too. It was going to be fun watching him handle all of the changes but hoped he still loved and found her sexy when she looked like a beached whale.

Changes. It wasn’t just her body that was changing. Evan wanted to take the Chief of Police job. Who was she to stand in his way? She felt butterflies every time she thought about it. Instinctively her hand moved to rub her belly, but Evan’s was already there, so she laid hers on top of his. Her heart ached at the thought of something happening to him. She was going to need strength for this life. She was strong, but was stronger with Evan by her side. She had to have faith Evan knew what he was doing because he’d been trained by the best. He just needed her to support him, and she was determined she would.

She needed to get up because her parents were coming but wanted to wait for Evan to wake. As she lay there, she thought about buying a black and white striped shirt because she’d probably be a referee at some point during the day and wondered if it came with one of those really loud whistles. Maybe that was the costume she should’ve bought instead of the harem one. She giggled.

“Are you crying?” Evan’s scratchy voice asked.

“I’m sorry. No, I had a funny thought. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He stretched then reclined against the headboard. “What was so funny?”

Her smile stretched across her face as she thought about it again. “I was visualizing myself in a referee uniform standing between you and my dad with a whistle so I didn’t have to yell.”

A scowl formed on his face. “That’s not funny at all. Gin, I want your dad to like me. I know we got things out of order, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

“I’m sure he did when we talked on the phone, but he’s probably calmed down by now. It’s not like we’re teenagers. We both have jobs and can support ourselves. You may want to tell him early on you’re going to be the new Chief of Police, though. He won’t hit an officer of the law,” she said with teasing eyes.

“You’re okay with me taking the job?”

“I’m trying to be. Promise me you’re going to always be safe? That you’ll think of me and this little one before running into a dangerous situation?”

“Y’all are never off my mind. There are times when I’m not thinking about this one,” he said as he rubbed her tummy. “Because if I was it’d be hard for us to have sex all the ways I want,” he responded with typical Evan cockiness.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes, darlin’, I do. I’m not gonna take unnecessary risks. I’ve got something I wanna come home to every night now. I didn’t have that before.”

She gently kissed his lips. “Good.” She moved to get out of the bed when he grabbed her arm.

“Where are you going?”

“Bathroom. Plus my parents are coming. We have a lot to do.”

“What time are they getting here? When the nausea subsides, I need to make love to you. It can be a quickie if that’s what you want, but I need that connection before they arrive.”

“Supposedly after lunch.” She got out of be as she said, “Then let’s find some food so we can come back here. I made their room up yesterday while you were meeting with the Mayor.”

Mitchell and Kayla were already in the kitchen making breakfast. As soon as they walked down the hall, Ginger smelled something and wrinkled her nose. “What are you cooking?”

“Sausage,” Mitchell said.

One more whiff and she ran back to the bathroom. She was hugging the toilet by the time Evan walked in. “Ginger?”

“I’m sorry. The smell of the sausage. This hasn’t happened before.” She retched again. Evan saw a hair tie on the vanity and pulled her hair back.

“I’ll be back. Just stay in here while we get the smell out.”

As if she was going anywhere. She sat on the bathroom floor until the feeling went away and finally made her way to the bed when Evan returned as promised with ginger ale.

“We’ve opened the doors and turned on the fans. Let’s wait a few minutes to make sure it’s gone. Mitchell feels terrible.”

“Why? He didn’t know it’d affect me. Every day will be something new. Now that we know, we can prepare for it.”

Evan leaned down and kissed her belly. “Oh buddy, hang in there. Uncle Mitchell didn’t mean to make Mommy sick, but I’ll make sure he pays for it later.” He tilted his head and winked at Ginger.

As she watched Evan talk to her tummy, tears streamed down her face. Her man – so protective and dominant and loving. It amazed her how he slipped in and out of each role with ease. Her heart was full, but her stomach wasn’t. A slight rumble moved through and she wanted to try to eat.

Evan’s smile was brilliant when he looked at her. “My boy wants to eat.” His smile faded when he noticed the tear streaks. “Gin?”

“You just make me so happy.”

His look morphed from curious and concerned to peace. “I’m glad because I’ve never been happier in my life. Do you wanna eat?”

“Yes. Do you realize you always refer to the baby in the masculine? What if it’s a girl?” she asked with a smile.

“Have you been talking to Mitchell?”

“No, why?”

“He seems to think there’s a chance the baby could be a girl. Since we’ll have a girl later, this one’s a boy because my girl will need a big brother to watch out for her.”

“I see. And you know this how?” Ginger asked with humor in her eyes. She was really trying not to laugh.

“That’s just the way it works. If it doesn’t then we may have an issue when she starts to school.”

“Why is that?”

“Somehow I don’t think the school will let me sit in the back of the room with a loaded gun. If we have our boy first, he’ll be there to watch over her. Simple logic,” Evan shrugged a shoulder.

“Uh huh. How about this, babe? Since we can’t find out for several months, you can call the baby whatever you want.” Evan smiled until Ginger held up a finger. “But, when we do find out and it happens to be a girl, you can’t be disappointed. Sometimes that’s how it works out, okay?”

“You think it’s a girl?”

“I don’t have an opinion one way or the other. Since I’ve never done this before, I don’t have anything to compare it to. I’ll be happy with healthy because I love him or her already so it doesn’t matter.”

“Healthy is good, but everyone knows the boy needs to come first,” Evan softly said.

“Whatever you say. Let’s go find some food.”

As soon as they walked back into the kitchen, Mitchell hugged her and immediately started apologizing, “I’m sorry, Ginger. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have made the sausage.”

“It’s the first time it’s happened so none of us knew. It’s okay. Who knows, something else may trigger it next time. I’m fine, baby is fine. Please don’t feel bad.” With a smile on her face she said, “Look at it this way – you’re getting practice for when Kayla gets pregnant.” Mitchell’s smile was contagious. “What? Are y’all pregnant?”

“No, but that’s my plan for our honeymoon night,” he said.

Ginger’s eyes cut to Kayla. “Are you serious?”

She smiled. “We’re talking about it. I called my doctor, and he suggested I go off the pill for a while before we try, so I stopped taking it. We’ll use other birth control until our wedding night.”

“Oh, Kayla, our kids will be close in age!”

“We thought it’d be fun for them to grow up with each other.”

With a thoughtful look Evan said, “At some point we’re gonna have to discuss living arrangements, especially since I’m taking the Chief position.”

“What?” Mitchell asked.

“Yeah, we discussed it this morning. I’ll see Mayor Sinclair Monday morning to accept the positon. This house is big, but I don’t know if two families can live here without getting on each other’s nerves. I still plan on helping with the ranch, but we need to think about it.”

Mitchell focused on his hands as he rolled his napkin between his fingers. “We could use Mom and Dad’s wing,” he said as he cleared his throat.

Evan shot him a look Ginger couldn’t read. “We’ve got a little while. We can talk about it later.” Even though he brought up the subject, he quickly changed it, “Darlin’, what do you wanna try?”

“Grits and dry toast. I’ll try the sausage, but not making any promises. I’m sorry, Mitchell.”

“No worries. You eat what you and baby Riverton can handle,” he quietly said. Ginger could tell he was still thinking about his parents’ wing of the house. Their dad had been gone for over ten years, and their mom not quite six, but she didn’t think the boys had been in that wing since she passed. She’d have to ask Kayla, but from the looks of it neither was ready yet.

Kayla must’ve picked up on the heaviness in the room, too so she quickly asked, “What time are your parents getting here? I told my folks to come over around five.”

“They said sometime after lunch, which gives me plenty of time to get my referee shirt,” she said with a giggle as she bumped her shoulder into Evan’s trying to get his thoughts away from his parents.

Ginger managed to get food in her tummy and keep it down while they cleaned the breakfast dishes. Evan still hadn’t shaken off the blues so she nuzzled up to him. “Want to show me how much you love me?”

He looked at her with so much emotion in his eyes, it nearly caused her heart to break for him. She felt the sting of her own tears when he answered and rose from his chair to take her back to their room. His mood was still quiet but he loved to talk after sex, so she hoped this would help him open up.

Slowly he undressed her as he kissed her body, which reacted to his touch like always. When his lips grazed her nipples, they quickly became erect since they’d become more sensitive in the last couple of days. He knew how to read her body because he was the most gentle he’d ever been with her. When he sucked a nipple, she moaned. “Are they sore?”

“Just more sensitive. How’d you know?”

“Not only did you moan with the slightest suck, but you tensed. You never do that. I’ve watched your reactions from the very first day because I wanna know your body better than you do. This needs to be just as good for you as it is for me so I’ll pay attention to what your body tells me.” He laid her on the bed then stripped out of his clothes.

“I know you will. Tell me what your body needs.”

He slowly entered her as he said, “You. Right here is where my body will always need to be.”

“Even when I look like a whale?”

“Even then, especially then.” He pulled out to where only the tip of his cock was barely inside her.

“Even when I no longer have a youthful body?”

“Even then because you’ll have sacrificed that body to give me children,” he said as he slowly pushed inside to the hilt.

She moaned. “Even when I’m old and gray?”

“As long as I can still get it up.” His smile was back for the first time since they woke.

He moved slowly as if he was trying to make this time together last as long as physically possible. They didn’t have the build-up of hours of teasing so when they climaxed, it was a slow release. They weren’t frantic, just loving. This was what they both needed. A connection to each other that no one else shared in. As they lay there with him still hovering above her, she looked at him with love. She begged him with her eyes to confide what was on his mind, but the look he gave her was almost disbelief. She didn’t think he would tell her so she rubbed his back as she brought up her proposal letter. “Did Prince Evan find the girl the Queen had hoped he would? A girl he could confide in?”

Evan left her body and rolled to his back taking her with him. With one arm around her and one resting over his eyes he said, “Yes, she’s more than the Queen could ever have wished for her son.”

“Then talk to her. She loves you and wants to be your partner in all things, good and bad. Let her be your confidant. She doesn’t want to take Prince Mitchell’s place in your life, just be an addition to it in a way he can’t be.”

“God, how did you find me? How did I get that lucky?” He paused. “Mitchell and I closed off our parents’ wing of the house when Mom died. We haven’t even opened the door, and I don’t wanna think about clearing out their things.”

He swallowed hard before he continued, “See, over the last few weeks, I’ve really been missing my dad’s advice. Ginger, I don’t wanna fail you as a husband or this little one as a father. The only example I have is no longer on this Earth. I remember him with my mom and try to make sure I’m following his example, but I’m not sure I’m doing a good enough job.” A tear fell on Ginger’s head. “If we clear out that wing it’ll be like we don’t need them anymore, and I need them now more than ever because relationships, marriage, kids – they don’t come with instruction manuals.” He squeezed her when he said, “You’ve been hurt before, and I can’t stand the thought of that nor of me ever doing it. I know I’m dominant and can make you fly, but you’ve gotta tell me if I go too far.” He pulled her tighter as if she’d disappear if he let go.

Ginger wiped her eyes before she spoke. “Babe, I’m not going anywhere.” She wrapped her arm around him to give him strength. “As far as your parents’ wing, you and Mitchell have to decide that. I’ll be right beside you if that’s what you want. Maybe there are things in there we can incorporate into the rest of the house or the nursery.” She wiggled so he loosened his hold and she straddled him. His hands rested on her hips as he looked her in ther eyes. With her hands cupping his face so he could see the sincerity in her eyes, she said, “I don’t want you to lose your heritage just because you found me. I want our baby to know the bloodline he or she comes from because you’re good stock, Evan Riverton, and I want to know all about your family so I can tell our children. I want you to pass on your family’s traditions just as I pass on mine. You’re right, there are no manuals but that’s why there’s communication.” With a smile on her face, she opened her arms wide. “I love what you do to me, inside and outside the bedroom. I always felt there was something missing in sex, but with you I’ve found that missing piece. Every day you prove to me there’s no other man for me. You’re it.” She poked him in the chest to drive home her point. “I’ve never felt more complete so as long as we stay open and honest with each other, this marriage thing will work. I love you.” She hugged him with everything in her.

With his arms wrapped around her he asked again, “You’re sure about the job?”

“I have to admit I’m nervous about it. I never imagined being a police officer’s wife. I saw what my mom went through, but I think I’m strong enough to handle it as long as you keep your promise.”

She moved beside him as they lay there in silence just touching each other – him stroking her arm and her stroking his abs. It felt like only minutes when they heard car doors slamming and knew who it was. “They’re here. Are you ready for this?” Ginger asked.

“Yes, I am now.” He kissed her nose. “Let’s go meet my in-laws.”

With a laugh and flurry of activity, they quickly dressed to greet her parents.